Depp Replacing Downey as Oz?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Downey has dropped out of starring as the eponymous wizard in Oz The Great And Powerful, Disney's prequel to The Wizard of Oz that chronicles how a charlatan ended up in the fantasy land and became its ruler.

While the trade doesn't state a specific reason for Downey's departure, the actor is scheduled to begin filming The Avengers later this spring and Disney wants to shoot Oz later this year.

Disney wants to move forward with the project, which has Sam Raimi attached to direct it and is already in pre-production, and they have reportedly made overtures to their billion-dollar man Johnny Depp to take over for Downey.

Depp toplined the studio's Alice in Wonderland last year, a mega-hit also produced by Oz producer Joe Roth. However, Depp's not a certainty as his future commitments include Dark Shadows, which he'll film this spring with Tim Burton, and his role as Tonto in The Lone Ranger. The latter is a Disney project, and could be pushed even further back on the burner should Depp commit to making Oz first.